‘Very upset’: Ontario flooring store closes without notice, leaving customers in a lurch

Pat Foran reports on the abrupt closure of Decorama Flooring in Bowmanville, Ont., leaving customers without refunds or the flooring they paid for.

A flooring store in Durham Region has abruptly closed its doors without warning, leaving customers without refunds or the flooring they paid for.

“I have three children and a home that currently has no floors,” said Shawna Davidovich of Bowmanville.

She and her husband paid in advance $7,250 to Decorama Flooring located in Bowmanville and were expecting to have the flooring installed in the weeks ahead.

But Davidovich said when she called to schedule her delivery, she got a major surprise.

“I actually called at 11 p.m. at night, and a bailiff answered and said, ‘We are terminating this place.’ So we came the next day, and the locks on the doors had been changed, and there was a sign that said he hadn’t paid the rent,” Davidovich recounted to CTV News Toronto.

Heather Rudd had also paid in advance $8,500 to Decorama Flooring and was expecting her flooring to be delivered and installed next week.

“I was very upset,” said the Oshawa resident.

“Samples were brought out to the house. I thought everything was flowing just fine, but now, not so much.”

Rudd and Davidovich are just two of what is believed to be many customers who paid in advance for flooring.

It’s not clear why the longtime business closed its doors, but customers say they were given no advance notice that there was a problem.

CTV News called the store, but there is now a message that says, “This number is no longer in service.”

Doug Hoyes, a licensed insolvency trustee with Hoyes Michalos, said many businesses are feeling financial pressures due to inflation, rising prices and trade tensions with the U.S.

“There are definitely more business bankruptcies than there were a year, or two or even three years ago,” said Hoyes.

He added that while customers may be hopeful to get their money back when a company goes under, consumers are generally considered unsecured creditors who are least likely to get refunds.

“In a bankruptcy, there is an order of priorities. The government gets their money first. Banks get their money second because they’re a secured creditor. If you put down a deposit down, you’re at the end of the line and the last to get money if there is any left over,” said Hoyes.

As well as paying thousands of dollars for flooring and getting nothing in return, both Rudd and Davidovich said they will still need to buy flooring again from someone else.

“So now I have to buy new flooring because our main floor needs flooring, and I’ll have to pay for it again,” said Davidovich.